Business Groups Court White House Even After C.E.O. Defections<br />Last Wednesday, even as top executives were abandoning President Trump’s business advisory councils after his remarks on white supremacist<br />violence in Charlottesville, Va., other industry leaders were busy making their interests known to a business-friendly White House.<br />Such coordination between industry groups and the White House stands in contrast to last week’s unraveling of the business advisory groups,<br />but confirms what many in the corporate world say: Behind the scenes, there is still active dialogue between business groups and the administration.<br />And that relative normalcy — even on a day when a number of prominent C. E.O.s publicly abandoned Mr. Trump — served as a reminder<br />that no matter the president’s missteps, his top legislative priorities, particularly tax reform, still draw strong support from business leaders.<br />So there has got to be some ability for businesses, hopefully large<br />and small, to engage with this administration, as there was such great promise going in.”<br />There are even questions about whether or not the executives who once made up his advisory councils will be<br />willing to speak out in support of causes they shared with the White House, including a tax code overhaul.<br />These C. E.O.s were going to be the ambassadors for the administration to talk about tax reform, about health care reform, about infrastructure.”<br />And there are other issues where business interests and the wishes of the White House diverge.<br />Now, with some signs that the worst fallout from Mr. Trump’s response to Charlottesville has passed —<br />and with the departure of Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump’s volatile strategist — some in the business community are voicing hope that the administration can tackle tax reform.
